Bloomsday Celebrations Go Beyond Dublin City Limits

NEW YORK (CBS) Happy Bloomsday!

The Irish - and literature mavens - know that June 16 is Bloomsday, so dubbed to commemorate Leopold Bloom's June 16, 1904, journey around Dublin in James Joyce's epic work, "Ulysses."

The first celebrations took place in Dublin in 1954 and consisted of a recreation in period costume of the walk that Joyce protagonist Leopold Bloom took around the city on the one day that is the focus of the novel. The route started at Bloom's Eccles Street home and included stops on McConnell Street, Parnell Square, the Martello Tower and Sanymount Cove.

Today, Dublin marks the event with a week's worth of celebrations that draw tourists from many lands.

Bloomsday celebrations happen on June 16 around the world , including New York, Los Angeles and Spokane , Wash.

According to the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, this year's event includes a full Irish breakfast and one-man show in Meeting House Square, four different walking tours, including a replica of the one Leopold Bloom took, a program of readings, song and dance in the square and a screening of the feature film "Bloom."